Aruba S.p.A – one of Italy’s leading providers of cloud, data centre, hosting, e-mail, domain registration and PEC (certified e-mail) services – has announced it has reactivated a hydroelectric power plant in Melegnano, near Milan, located in the same area where the company already owns another power plant, acquired in 2020.
The hydroelectric power plant dates back to the early 1900s and was decommissioned decades ago by its previous owner.
With careful conservative restoration of the building and the revamping of all electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systems, it has been possible to reactivate the power plant near the weir on the Lambro River.
Using the MVF (minimum vital flow) management system, Aruba has also maintained the biological balance of the watercourse as best possible. With the reactivation of this site, the number of hydroelectric power plants owned by Aruba has risen to eight, with an installed capacity of about 10MW of hydro capacity in operation.
In addition to the two in Melegnano, on the Lambro River, Aruba owns three power plants near Ponte San Pietro (BG) on the Brembo River, two on the AsticoRiver, in Chiuppano and Calvene (VI) and one in Pontebba (UD) on the Fella River.
Aruba will continue to invest in strengthening its ability to generate energy from renewable sources, particularly through hydropower and photovoltaics, with the long-term view to ensuring the sustainability of operations across the group.
This strategy is in line with the goals of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, which set a goal for the climate neutrality of all signatories’ data centres by 2030. The initiative demonstrates a common and shared commitment with other European cloud and data centre companies to proactively drive the transition to full energy sustainability. Aruba was among some of the first data centre operators to have already certified adherence to the agreement through an audit conducted specifically to measure its compliance with the goals.
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